Tenants getting to grips with rent arrears, says LSL

Rent rises in May have slowed – and tenants’ rent arrears are falling.

According to LSL, parent company of Reeds Rains and Your Move, the sector is still growing, with the number of new tenants up by 3.4% in May on the previous month and by 5.1% year on year.

However, LSL said that tenancy demand would have been higher still had it not been for a “spurt” of first-time buyers.

Rents rose by just 0.1% on a monthly basis.

The average rent in England and Wales is now £737 per month. 

Six out of ten regions saw rents rise in May. The fastest increases were in the East Midlands, where rents are up 0.4%, followed by the North-West with a 0.3% monthly rise. London, the South-East and the East of England all saw rents 0.2% higher than the month before.

However, rents in Wales fell by 0.7%, followed by a 0.4% drop in the West Midlands, while rents in Yorkshire and the Humber are down by 0.3% compared to April.
 
On an annual basis, there remains significant variation in the rate of rent rises. Once again, London dominated, with rents 7.2% higher than a year ago. Next fastest was Wales, where rents are up 5.2% since May last year, followed by the North-East with annual rent rises of 4.0%. 

In nine out of ten regions rents are higher than a year ago, with only the South-West seeing no change since May 2012.
 
The average yield on a rental property was unchanged on a monthly basis at 5.3% in May, compared to 5.2% in the same month last year.
 
Total arrears in May were £276m, compared to £282m in April. This equates to 8.2% of all rent across England and Wales, compared to 8.4% of all rent in April.